Twenty-six local corpsmembers are assisting Cal Fire with logistical support on the fire. They will work 16-hour days and will be there as long as needed, up to two weeks, officials said.

The Watsonville crews join a Napa CCC crew on the Morgan Fire, and an additional 17 crews assigned to other fires throughout the state, including the Rim Fire at Yosemite National Park.

Crews from every CCC location in California have been dispatched to fires this season. In August, the CCC provided 160,000 hours of firefighting and camp support on wildfires throughout the state.

The California Conservation Corps is a state program open to young men and women between the ages of 18 and 25. Opportunities for joining are available year-round.

Flare-ups kept firefighters busy overnight Tuesday as the Morgan Fire continued to grow across the steep flanks of Mt. Diablo in Contra Costa County.

Just after 8 p.m. the 3,500 acre fire jumped a containment line near the intersection of Marsh Creek Road and Morgan Territory Road.

Firefighters spent the night chasing hot embers whipped out of burning trees by an onshore breeze

"The ember shower comes out of that, the embers out of all the needles and these are all ranches and horse pastures. A lot of grass in here that is going to get the houses going so we’re trying real quick to suppress the fire so the embers don’t blow across," said Mike Marcucci of Cal Fire.

Firefighters scrambled to save ranch homes in the fire's path as owners rounded up livestock and valuables under a mandatory evacuation order.

"I went home, I was maybe there an hour and a half and they said start getting ready to prepare to pack," said Kathy Bono, a homeowner along Marsh Creek Road.

By 3 a.m. the fire had slowed but continued to burn across the hill side dangerously close to homes.

Firefighters took advantage of the improving conditions to build containment lines around the fire and burn areas that threatened to flare-up later in the day.

As of 7 p.m. Tuesday they had contained 60 percent of the fire line.

Cooler weather was forecast for Tuesday which could dampen the fire's erratic behavior.

As a marine layer blew in from the coast, firefighters feared the wind that could come with it.

They welcomed higher humidity and cooler air to calm the blaze.

A shed housing communication equipment was destroyed in the fire, but crews have not reported any homes lost in the blaze.

Blazes raging in forests and woodlands across California have taken the life of a firefighter and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes as crews continue to battle the flames from the air and the ground.